Don't Ignore Structural Deficit

Popular tax cuts not necessarily good budgeting

Governor Walker’s tax cut proposal has some appeal, and we acknowledge that the numbers he’s talking about returning to tax-payers amount to real money. But that doesn’t mean it’s smart budgeting. Once again we are in danger of getting a little blithe about our structural deficit.

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It wasn’t that long ago Republicans were crowing about virtually eliminating the long tradition of pushing the cost of programs to future budgets, creating deficits that were miserable to crawl out of. So we respect those GOP legislators who are leery of Walker’s plan. We support Sen. Fitzgerald’s desire to find the “right mix” of tax relief and paying down the deficit. And we trust that means retaining Walker’s wise Wisconsin Fast Forward program of investing in education, job training and helping people with disabilities enter the workforce. Those are great ideas that will indeed grow the economy.

But feeding that stubborn structural deficit can make that growth tough to sustain. We look forward to an emphasis on the “right mix” search in the upcoming Special Session.

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